Music

Favorite Charles Wesley Hymns

/ Jason Morris / 1 Comment

Last Sunday, I picked “And Can It Be That I Should Gain” as one of our hymns for the 8am service. As we were singing, I came to realize that the majority of our 8am congregation was unfamiliar with this beautiful hymn. “And Can It Be” is part of our Methodist heritage (as are all the hymns of Wesley). Not only that…it has a melody that is a lot of fun to sing!  I found myself thinking, “Wow! These faithful members of a United Methodist church are missing out.”

So, I decided that I’m going to take our 8am service on a journey through some of the hymns of Charles Wesley. There are some that will be familiar (“Christ the Lord is Risen Today”; “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing”) and some will be totally unknown. Each week, one of our hymns will come from Charles Wesley. I might even give a little “story behind the song”. The big idea is to walk us through some of the traditional hymns of the Wesleyan movement.

Anyone out there have a favorite Charles Wesley hymn?

An Odd Mix

/ Jason Morris / Leave a comment

So, I have about 35 minutes to kill before I head into a class. As I drove into town, I passed by this rather hip looking coffee house called the Mean Bean. I decided to stop in, grab a cup of coffee, and do a little bit of work.

From the moment I walked in, I liked the place. It’s very trendy…has a nice urban feel.

And then I noticed the music selection…

The environment screams that this would be a place filled with indie rock snobs…or at the very least folk music loving hippies.

Instead, the barista is slinging out today’s hottest country hits. Not only is he playing these horrible songs that represent the absolute downfall of country & western music, he is passionately singing along.

I never expected to hear “What Hurts the Most” in one of the coolest looking coffee houses I’ve been to in a long time.

It reminds me that, while we can present any kind of outward image that we desire, the inner self will always be revealed.

Okay, while typing this, the barista changed cd’s and is now listening to Stevie Nicks. And I didn’t think it could get any worse…

Shuffle Playlist

/ Jason Morris / 2 Comments

So, I continually get these notes via facebook about favorite songs, top albums, and music that changed ones life. I have yet to compile a list of any of these. The ones that I really like are those that tell you to put your iPod/mp3 player on shuffle and list the next 25 songs that play. I prefer this because it takes much less thought. It reveals what a person really listens to, rather than what they would put on a list of their top albums or songs of all-time (because, let’s face it…we’ll all try to impress one another by seeing who can list the most obscure tracks and albums). Anyway, I decided to set my iTunes on shuffle and started writing down the next 25 songs that played. I’m not claiming that any of these are my favorite songs of all time. But, they are on my iTunes playlist…so I must have at least liked them enough to download/sync them onto iTunes. Here’s the list:

  1. Orbits – Medeski, Martin, and Wood
  2. Get to the Table On Time – M. Ward
  3. Mansioned – Chin Up Chin Up
  4. Kamera – Wilco
  5. High and Dry – Radiohead
  6. As the Sea Holds Creatures Vast and True – Tommy Guerrero
  7. Better Together – Jack Johnson
  8. Sierra Leon – The Derek Trucks Band
  9. My Flying Saucer – Billy Bragg & Wilco
  10. Home – The Redwalls
  11. I Will Follow You Into the Dark – Death Cab for Cutie
  12. Someday the Waves – Iron & Wine
  13. Gagging Order – Radiohead
  14. Bandits – Billy Cobham
  15. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1 – The Flaming Lips
  16. Minor Threat – Minor Threat
  17. Pass the Mic – Beastie Boys
  18. Bend to the Road – Calexico
  19. Tea & Cake – The Sea & Cake
  20. Seglopur – Sigur Ros
  21. Maybe I’m Right – Pete Yorn
  22. Break The Same – Mute Math
  23. Screw the Law – Black Flag
  24. Wholly Yours – The David Crowder Band
  25. The Scientist – Coldplay

Yes Sir!

/ Jason Morris / 1 Comment

Surprisingly enough, I really enjoyed the MIA, TI, Lil’ Wayne, Kanye, and Jay-Z performance at the Grammy’s! And, I’m looking forward to the Radiohead performance. Kanye was also on point with Estelle. Jennifer Hudson brought the house to its feet…and my wife to the verge of tears. Chris Martin and Jay Z was an interesting mix…quite enjoyable. Dave Grohl and Paul McCartney! Most know I’m not a big Beatles fan…but I dig the Foo and Nirvana…so I’m enjoying watching Dave Grohl have fun. I found the Stevie Wonder and Jonas Brothers mix to be just weird. But, wonder was incredible! Taylor Swift definitely out-classed and out-performed Miley Cyrus (no surprise there). Unfortunately, I missed the U2 performance…of course, I can always watch it later. Carrie Underwood was pretty much what one would expect. Katy Perry proved that she is only in the business because she’s willing to kiss girls and sing songs about it over and over and over…oh, and wear next to nothing doing it. If I feel so inclined, I’ll post some thoughts on the other performances.

Additional: Just watched the Radiohead performance. Yeah, Thom Yorke pretty much killed it. Those USC band kids pretty much just experienced a career highlight. “Performed with Radiohead at the Grammy’s” looks pretty good on a resume! Neil Diamond…not bad. Bo Didley tribute…decent. JT and TI…not impressed. Lil’ Wayne, Robin Thicke, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band…extremely surprising (I really liked it). Oh, Ne-Yo continually impresses me. His voice is just so smooth. He does some incredible stuff…but makes it look and sound so easy…he doesn’t force anything (unlike Jamie Foxx…who does a decent job…but he really pushes…and he has to be one of the most annoying celebrities of all-time…extremely talented, extremely egotistical). And, Smokey Robinson…the man can sing. How old is he anyway?